AFGHANS DOWN A PAKISTANI F-16, SAYING FIGHTER JET CROSSED BORDER

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN, Special to the New York Times

Published: May 2, 1987

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 1—
The Afghan Government said today that it had succeeded for the first time in shooting down a Pakistani F-16 jet fighter, which it asserted had intruded into Afghan territory.

The incident Wednesday was another sign of mounting air warfare at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border that has cost hundreds of lives in Pakistan this year and is stirring concern in Islamabad and Washington.

It also occurred at a time when Pakistan has asked the United States to sell or lease it advanced radar planes to help spot intruding aircraft. Such planes would be able to perform their task at some distance from the border.

Afghanistan said it shot down the American-made F-16 after two F-16's crossed the border at Khost district in Paktia Province in the border area southwest of Peshawar. It said the F-16's were at first warned and then fired upon by Afghan jets. Pakistan Reports Loss of Jet

Pakistan acknowledged that one of its jets had been downed but dismissed the Afghan version, saying that its planes had never violated Afghan airspace and were attacked in Pakistani territory.

The Pakistani authorities said the incident occurred Wednesday when six Afghan aircraft violated Pakistani airspace and two Pakistani jets intercepted them. They said one jet was shot down over the Pakistani town of Miram Shah. They said the pilot bailed out and landed in Pakistani territory uninjured. Islamabad also said the downed plane could have been either an F-16, which is one of the most advanced American-made fighters, or an older Chinese-designed F-6 jet.

In any case, the incident marked the first time that a Pakistani Air Force jet had been shot down by Afghanistan and was seen by Western diplomats here as a blow to Islamabad and its air force. The United States has supplied Pakistan with 40 F-16's as the major part of its $1.6 billion military-aid package in the last six years.

Afghan guerrilla camps in Pakistan have increasingly become the targets of attacks by Afghanistan. Pakistan shelters and helps supply the rebels, who are seeking to overthrow the Soviet-backed Communist Government in Kabul and expel more than 100,000 Soviet troops. Air Incursions Reported Up

According to the Pakistani authorities, more than 300 civilians were killed this year in Afghan air strikes inside Pakistan near the Afghan border. Pakistani officials also say there have been 1,000 air incursions since the beginning of the year, more than three times the rate of last year.

Afghanistan, for its part, says that since February Pakistan and the Afghan rebels, using American-supplied, shoulder-launched Stinger missiles, have shot down two large transport planes near the Pakistani border, killing at least 76 people.

The downing of the Pakistani jet was seen by Western diplomats here as potentially damaging to Pakistani morale, especially if it turns out that the jet was an F-16, on which the Pakistanis rely for air defense.